O.C. woman delivers hope to Syrians

Syrian-American artist Sama Warah, 29, of Silverado Canyon standing in front of her bedroom closet door, raised $8,000, packed her backpack and flew to Turkey last month &#8211; alone &#8211; to find and help refugees from the Syrian civil war. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SILVERADO CANYON – "Crazy."

"Dangerous."

"You'll get killed."

Her response?

Sama Wareh packed her knapsack and threw a farewell party for family and friends. She also wrote her will.

"I wanted to give them big hugs before I left," says Wareh, 29, a Silverado Canyon artist known for wearing a cowboy hat and riding a Ninja motorcycle.

She knew she might get killed walking into a war zone alone. But she could think of no other way to help 135,000 Syrians who've fled civil war and now are struggling to survive winter in neighboring Turkey.

Take away the very real possibility of death or serious injury, and Wareh's plan was simplicity itself: Fly to Turkey. Find refugees. Buy them food, blankets or shelter with the $8,000 she'd raised in Orange County.

And that was it. Until a few hours before her flight, when a family friend dropped off two suitcases of medicine to take, along with this message:

"Please, in Reyhanli, find the little boy with no leg. He's seven. Find him, and tell him something for me."

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Last year, Wareh backpacked through South America. She almost died in a bus crash. She almost was raped. And she almost died in a landslide while hiking to Machu Picchu. But each time she survived, unscathed, with a newfound confidence in travel.

And in life.

"If you walk in love – of your surroundings and everyone you're going to meet and everything you're going to do – everything comes together," she says. "I'm a firm believer in that. I guess that's faith, right?"

Syrian-American artist Sama Warah, 29, of Silverado Canyon standing in front of her bedroom closet door, raised $8,000, packed her backpack and flew to Turkey last month – alone – to find and help refugees from the Syrian civil war. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sama Warah, 29, posted words of the poet Kahlil Gibran over the mirror of her bedroom in her Silverado Canyon home. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Syrian-American artist Sama Warah, 29, holds up a painting she is doing for Karen Diedrich of Kean Coffee, who gave $400 for her trip. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Syrian-American artist Sama Warah, 29, standing near her Silverado Canyon studio, holds up a painting she is doing for Karen Diedrich of Kean Coffee, who gave $400 for her trip. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Syrian-American artist Sama Warah, 29, of Silverado Canyon in front of one of her paintings of a Damascus street scene, raised $8,000, packed her backpack and flew to Turkey last month – alone – to find and help refugees from the Syrian civil war. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sama Wareh of Costa Mesa painted the Syrian revolution flag on her face as she joined about 40 other Syrian Americans and supporters outside the Consulate General of Syria in Newport Beach on Feb. 7 to protest Syria's authoritarian rule and government crackdown that has killed thousands of civilians. LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Syrian-American artist Sama Warah, 29, holds up a painting she is doing for Karen Diedrich of Kean Coffee, who gave $400 for her trip. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
"While still in Istanbul, I found Haleema, who fled Syria with her four children and father," said Sama Wareh. "Her husband was killed and her home was bombed. She lives in a moldy basement in Istanbul, renting a storage room from a market owner. Her items had been either salvaged from the Dumpster or donated by sympathetic locals. She is making me tea and had her kids run and fetch water from the Mosque nearby." COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH
"This is Aslan, a refugee from Latakia who speaks Turkish and Arabic," said Sama Wareh. "She helped tremendously with the shopping and haggling as well as helping the organization in Ghazientep do a lot of translating." COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH
"Abu Mumtaz is the driver who took Aslan and I to go deliver blankets on the border," said Sama Wareh. "It was there, on the border in Rehanliye where I met his family, who had all suffered serious injuries from the shelling of their home town, Azaaz. Abu Mumtaz is trying to sneak in a few minutes with his kids before heading out with Aslan and I to go deliver blankets." COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH
Sama Wareh's journal included this drawing. COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH
Syrian refugee kids wait at the bus stop in Ghazientep. "The Turkish government provided them with uniforms. Many of them proudly told me that they love their uniforms," said Sama Wareh. COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH
"While still in Istanbul," said Sama Wareh, "I found Haleema, who fled Syria with her four children (shown here) and father. Her husband was killed and her home was bombed. She lives in a moldy basement in Istanbul, renting a storage room from a market owner. Her items had been either salvaged from the trash bin or donated by sympathetic locals. She is making me tea and had her kids run and fetch water from the mosque nearby. COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH
On the ninth day of her trip, Sama Wareh found the border town of Reyhanli, found the refugee clinic and found Malek, the boy from Idlib, whose leg was amputated after a bomb attack. COURTESY OF SAMA WAREH

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